


You Bought This?—The Small Town Church Job

by crayonbreakygal



Category: Leverage, Supernatural
Genre: Blood, Crossover, Drama, Eliot's past, F/M, Hunting, Multi, Parker is a badass, Sexual Content, Sophie's past, Vampires, vampires are real
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 22:18:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17252408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: Hardison bought a church to renovate in a small town so that they could lay low after Eliot is hurt on a job.  Takes place a few years after season five.  Crossover with Supernatural.





	You Bought This?—The Small Town Church Job

**Author's Note:**

> Oh yeah, crossover. This was not supposed to be a crossover, but it's just the way it eventually plotted itself out. A little reveal on several pasts from our Leverage team. And Parker is a badass. What else is new?

You Bought This?—The Small Town Church Job

Takes place a few years after season five.

 

“This is what you chose?”

“Hey, listen. You wanted a project. I haven’t had time to even get someone to fix this place up much less anything else. It’ll all come together.”

Eliot sighed as he walked into their “next” offices.  After the boondoggle that was the “black book”, they again had to move their headquarters, although they still owned the building where the Brew Pub was located. Hardison had buried the ownership so deep, it would take a genius to figure out who actually owned it.

“It has potential,” Parker piped up.

“Potential? You do realize what this building was before?”

Parker blinked at him but didn’t answer.

Nate walked in, turned his head to and fro at the sight before him.

“Oh my,” was all Sophie could say.

“Hey, no comments from the peanut gallery.  Aren’t y’all supposed to be honeymooning or finding yourselves or whatever it is the kids call it these days?”

“Eliot called,” Sophie pointed out.

“I thought that maybe one of them could kick some sense in you, Hardison.  This is… I’m not even sure where to start.”

“Hey, it has high speed internet. I got that done first.”

“Can’t exactly burn it down,” Parker answered finally.

Nate rubbed his hand over his face.  “Sacrilege.”

Eliot thought the man might cross himself, but he held his hand tight against the side of his body.

“There’s a place for a dope kitchen.  Room enough for everyone to come chill, big room for meetings. Lots of light, which Portland totally lacked.”

“And pews to sit on when we need to pray that a job doesn’t go down the toilet.”

A lopsided cross was still attached at the front of the room.  Among the other inhabitants of the room, that stood out the most prominently.  Only a few pews were still in existence, along with a few stained-glass windows.  Several of the windows were still boarded up along with the amount of dust that might send Hardison into shock unless he actually listened to Eliot and abandoned this project immediately.

“A church? Seriously, Hardison. What made you buy a church?” Nate finally asked.

“Hey, we were burned. We needed to move.  This was the best choice.”

“No,” Parker succinctly put it.

Hardison threw his hands up at his girlfriend’s announcement that this was indeed not the right choice.

“The crews will be here tomorrow. I bet in a month’s time, it will look more professional than Nate’s apartment.”

“Yeah, still not what I wanted,” Nate reminded the rest of them.

“Oh, you liked having us around,” Sophie told him.

“Someone to carry you upstairs when you were drunk,” Parker added.

“A bar, Nate. Who has an apartment upstairs from a bar when they’re an alcoholic?”

“Functioning at that point. None of you complained at the time.”

The rest of them threw their hands up in sync.

“Journey of discovery.”

“Carrying your drunk ass up the stairs.”

“You hid it in your coffee.”

“Crazy hair,” Parker finished.

Nate drew his hand through his shortened, greying hair along with the beard he had started to sport right after he and Sophie’s honeymoon.

“It’s a church,” he tried to go back to the subject at hand.

“Was a church. Now it’s Leverage, Incorporated, three point oh.”

“Four point oh.  Remember blowing up our offices.”

“Thanks for the reminder, El.”

Eliot rolled his eyes at his teammate, his friend, his best friend, and now that they had worked it out, his boyfriend. Sometimes the lines blurred, but for now, he’d just call Hardison his life.  As was Parker.

“This thing is big enough that we can each have our own space.”

“But I don’t want my own space.”  Parker was right.  Weren’t they finally living together? 

Hardison backtracked quickly.  “What I mean is Eliot can have his workout room.” Hardison used quotes when he said workout.  “You can have a room just for your gear and whatever else you might need.  We can have as many offices as we need. There’s even a space in the basement if Sophie wants to run a little theatre. It has a separate entrance and everything.”

“Oh, I like that.”

“There’s a room if we want to vet clients where they have no access to the rest of the place.”

“Hardison, this is a small town. How are we going to attract clients?”

Nate was right. But it wasn’t up to him since Parker was now in charge. They had agreed that if Nate and Sophie came back for the occasional job, that Parker would run the show.  Nate had wholeheartedly agreed with them.  In practice, they hadn’t tested that theory yet.

“Besides, there’s only one bar…”

“Two. One out by the interstate.  Two diners, one bakery, five bed and breakfasts, two gas stations, one out by the interstate, one general store, one grocery store, at least five mom and pop stores on the main strip, ten churches, not including this one. Most everyone commutes into the largest city closest to this one.  There’s one elementary school, and a combination middle/high school because of the numbers.  I’m not sayin’ we stay here forever, but you did say lay low.  This is so low it ain’t even funny.  There’s a big boom here with all the internet folks reviving the town. Lots of people who are artists, graphic designers, online tutors, you name it. We’ll fit right in.”

Hardison was done with his “this is the right fit” speech for now.  Eliot saw so many issues with what Hardison had planned.

“And when it snows?” Eliot started.

“Four-wheel drives for everyone that wants one.  Also, we have access to a private plane whenever we want. I thought of all the contingencies.  We aren’t staying here forever.  Just until I can get everyone off our asses.”

“Aren’t we dead?” Parker questioned.

“Everybody but Nate. By the way, Interpol would like to talk to you. Sterling’s plan was not full proof.”

“I was afraid of that.”

“And here we are.”

Eliot sighed in frustration. So, they’d have to lay low for a while.  They could work more on the names in that black book, although they had already taken down a few of the most important ones. Working as ghosts had its advantages. But the last job, something just hadn’t seemed right.  He should have pulled them out, stepped back for a moment to reassess the situation.  Someone was on to them.

His leg ached like something fierce again. Leaning on his cane, he limped over to the dirty stained-glass window, inspecting it for damage. He just hoped that some of this stuff held up while they were renovating.

Eliot was so ticked that Parker had called in reinforcements, aka Sophie and Nate.  They both came in after the “accident”, which really wasn’t an accident as they found out later, and helped the other two wrap up the job in a neat little bow as he sat cooling his heels first in a hospital (he still hates them), then at the Brew Pub.  Only that was deemed to not be as safe as it had been before.  They left it in the capable hands of Amy and the rest of the staff, being watched over by one of his buddies who had taken a liking to the cute little waitress/heiress.  They both shared a love of art too, which made Eliot leaving a little more palatable.  At first, Parker was just a little ticked they had to leave, but she could tell that getting Eliot out of the city and off everyone’s radar was key.

“How long?” he asked Hardison.

“Huh?”

“How long is this gonna take?”

“Oh, a month tops. Once they work on those back rooms where we’re gonna live, then we can move our stuff in.”

Since Eliot rarely traveled with no more than a duffel bag, it wouldn’t take long for him.  Of course, he did have a few things back in Portland along with a storage unit hidden from all to see.

“So, I’d say in a few weeks we can move in.”

“The dust?” Parker reminded Hardison.

“It’ll be fine.”

Yeah, right, Eliot thought.  Hardison and his stupid allergies. They’d never hear the end of it.

“I brought all the crews in.  And hired local too just to get the work done faster.”

“Stimulate the economy. Good plan,” Parker cheered.  “So where are we staying?”

“Didn’t I mention five bed and breakfast places?”

“We could spend so much time together,” Parker reminded everyone.

Nate rolled his eyes as Sophie managed a fake smile as Parker hugged each of them up to her.

“Don’t worry. One has cottages out back. We can bunk down there until we can move in here. Total privacy.”

 

And when Hardison meant total privacy, he didn’t realize it meant no privacy whatsoever.  It was a lie, pure and simple.  Sure, the buildings were separate, but not by much. The walls were paper thin.  Air leaked in from all around the windows.  It was weirdly charming though. Nate had run the electric heater for hours and it still wasn’t all that warm inside.  His next idea was to light a fire in the real fireplace. That did help. Now it was too hot. It was either bury themselves under mounds of blankets or sleep in the nude.

“Sophie, not so loud.”

Sophie had almost shouted at what Nate was doing to her but had stifled her response at his urging.

“I can’t help it, Nate,” she panted out as his head came up from his position at the end of the bed.

The bed was tiny, a twin.  And this was supposed to be the honeymoon suite?

“I keep telling you that beard tickles.”

He laughed a bit against her leg.

“Blame Hardison.”

“Blame Hardison that you’re rubbing your face all over my …”

Another squeal escaped as he bit down on the side of her leg.

“Stop, you evil man.”

“You like me being evil.”

“Well, just a bit. Not so hard.”

“I’ll give you not so hard.”

“No, dear.  That is definitely not what you want to do.”

Instead of taking it slowly and working up her legs, Nate practically lunged at her, holding her arms now above her head.

“Did you just make a joke, about my…?”

“Since we’re now sweating instead of freezing, we might want to get a move on before something else breaks in his hellhole.”

“Oh, I think it’s charming.”

“Charming enough to spend weeks in?” Sophie told him as he settled against her.

“There better be hot water,” he said as he moved over her.

Instead of letting her squeal again with what he was doing to her body, he held his hand over her mouth so that it was somewhat muffled.  She bit down on him as he sped up his pace.

“You…,” he started to say.

“Make me,” she taunted him back.

Instead of finishing what he had started, he flipped her over so that her face was now partially buried in the bedsheets and pillow and started over what he intended just moments ago.

“Challenge accepted,” he told her as he thrust back into her.

At least now she had something to groan out her release. He had her back and hair to muffle his response.

 

Eliot put a pillow over his head, hoping to drown out the noise from the other building.  The walls were so thin he could hear everything, and he meant everything that was going on in the other building right next to them.  He had decided to leave Parker and Hardison at the new “offices” and try to get some work done where they were temporarily staying. Nate and Sophie had agreed to drive him, wanting to turn in early.  Yeah right, he thought. Turn in early. Jesus, did they have to be so loud?

The door opened to let even more cold air in as the two younger members of Leverage entered with a flourish. 

“Why the hell is it so cold in here?” Hardison asked.

“Because the damn heater doesn’t work right. I thought I could sleep without it. Only…”

“Wow, they’re loud,” Parker pointed out as she sat down on the bed next to Eliot.

“Now that is just way too much information,” Hardison sighed.

Opening his computer, he pulled up a program that had music that could drown out what was going on in the building next to them. It helped, mostly.

“Oh, to be young and in love,” Hardison quipped as he started to build a fire.

“Is your leg alright?”

Was his leg alright? Why did Parker have to keep asking him that? He couldn’t bend it much yet, which meant he couldn’t gather firewood or make a damn fire to warm the place up. He was lucky he could even go take a piss on his own. He growled low in his throat, but Parker ignored it.

“Brought you some food,” Parker said as she rattled a paper bag in front of him.

It smelled pretty good, Eliot thought.  Once he pulled it out and took a bite of the sandwich, he felt pure bliss in his mouth.  Someone could make a damn fine sandwich. He’d have to get the name of the place that Hardison and Parker had stopped at on the way.

“See? Good, huh,” Parker told him.

“We gotta do something about these accommodations.”

Eliot knew that Hardison was right. 

“We could pull up some chairs and sell tickets.”

Eliot almost choked on his sandwich by what Parker had said.

“Yeah, there’s probably some ordinance on lewd behavior or something.  Well, think they’re done?”

Eliot had heard a bit of a shout and banging on a wall.  That was just way too much information for him.  How were they going to be intimate under these circumstances? He didn’t want anyone to hear what he was up to at night.

A polite knock at the door had Parker moving to see who was there. Yanking the door open, Nate tumbled inside. He was fully dressed.  Now that was quick.

“Hey, um, just wanted to tell you.  Never mind. By the way, that was not us.”

“Oh lord, it is cold in here,” Sophie said as she ran in and shut the door quickly.

“I mean, the walls are very thin,” Nate said as he rubbed his hands together.

The noise started up again, this time even louder than before.  Eliot narrowed his eyes at the two.

“Eliot, we have a bit of discretion.”

“Most of the time,” Hardison reminded them.  “Except that one time.”

Nate crossed his arms, looking a bit put out.  “This is why it was my apartment, remember?”

“Just don’t like seein’ naked butts running up the stairs is all.”

Parker started to giggle at that image, shutting up completely when she noticed that Sophie had turned a bit pale.

“Sophie, you have a nice ass,” Parker reminded the woman.

“Well, thank you, Parker,” Sophie said, smiling back.

“That’s not what I was talking about.”

A scream like no other came from across the way.

“Geez, get a room,” Parker joked.

“They have a room,” Eliot told her.

Another scream ripped through the chilled air along with a shout of stop.

“Guys, that doesn’t sound like someone having fun,” Parker said as Eliot led the way outside.

It didn’t take Eliot long to figure out something was definitely wrong in the last cottage.  Even in the dim moonlight, he saw a smear of blood across the threshold of the door.

“Hardison, 911,” Nate urged.

“Already on it.”

“Might be a crime scene,” Eliot told the others.

“Eliot, that was a woman’s scream. She might need medical attention.”

As Eliot crept up the stairs, he looked all over for any type of threat that might still be lurking around and he felt nothing. Peaking in the room, he saw even more blood on the floor and walls.

“The rest of you, stay outside. Nate?”

“Got it.”

He and Nate still had their shorthand where he could just say a word or two and Nate would be on alert.  If this was a murder, and it looked more and more like it was one, the killer might still be in the room or nearby.

The fire was still going in the room, illuminating what was lying on the bed, prone. She was lying face down in a pool of blood, her hands tied to the bedposts.  Her gown was hiked up her hips, exposing her nakedness.  Blood coated her extremities. Eliot took great care to not touch anything and avoided all the blood in the room. He didn’t want any footprints to match his or to leave any fingerprints just in case. Lightly touching her wrist, he felt for a pulse.  Nothing. He could see a little that it looked as if her throat was slashed?  Just not enough light to examine her.  Quick and clean if it was. Well, not so clean because of all the blood around the room.  She had other injuries though, which meant that was probably where the blood was from.

As quickly as he could he made it back out of the room just in case the police got there in the interim.  Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash of something or someone in the distance, like he or she was running.  He couldn’t go after them, nor did he want to ask any of the others to do it.  Whoever did this had a knife or possibly more weapons. Only Parker noticed it too and took off like a shot.

“Parker, no,” Eliot yelled, but she was too fast.

“Shit,” he yelled to no one because the other two men took off after her.

“Dammit, Eliot. What happened in there?” Sophie asked.

“Not pretty. Her throat didn’t look right. Blood everywhere.”

Getting his phone out, he started to call each one of them, trying to call them back to the scene. He didn’t want to be responsible getting any of them hurt or worse.  Just as he turned to get a good look at where they’d taken off to, he was blindsided, someone barreling into him, taking him down to the ground.  He heard Sophie scream out his name as he hit the ground hard. Then his world turned black.

 

It was rare that Eliot Spencer was knocked out cold. He mostly could snap out of whatever hit him quickly. The only other time he had not was when that large piece of machinery had hit him at the carnival a few years before while retrieving that poor girl.  That had hurt like a son of a bitch. It seemed to take forever to get his head right after that one. 

What had hit him? It was like a freight train had hit him.  Moaning, he managed to turn over, looking around for the culprit. Then he remembered that Sophie had been standing right beside him. She was nowhere to be seen.

His head swam as he made it to his feet. If he wasn’t careful, he’d end up back on his ass. His leg pounded in time with his head wound.

“Eliot,” he heard Parker say off in the distance.

She came screeching to a halt directly in front of him, grabbing him so he didn’t fall back to the ground.

“Soph. Where, I have to. Parker.”

His words were disjointed, vision blurred a bit as he held onto her strong arm.

“He got away. What happened? Where’s Sophie?”

Parker looked around but didn’t let him fall. He thought he could hear sirens off in the distance, but maybe it was just his ears ringing from being tackled to the ground hard.

“I don’t know,” he cried out.

“Guys, guys. What happened? I lost him, and I think it’s a him. Where’s Sophie?” Hardison had caught back up with them, out of breath from running all over trying to find Parker and whoever was running away from the scene of the crime.

Nate came back last, out of breath.

“Did Sophie go back inside?” he managed to get out.

“Someone knocked Eliot out. I just got here. Where is she, Eliot?”

To say that Nate looked worried was an understatement.

“Hardison. Does she have her phone on her?” Nate asked anxiously.

“Hold on, hold on.  Just a sec.”

His eyes darted all over the screen, tapping away at whatever program he had specially installed on his superphone, which is what Parker had taken to calling it.

“Two blocks over. To the west.”

“Which way?” Nate asked as he took off in the general direction.

“Wait, Nate. I’ll go with you,” Parker said. “Give me the phone. Get Eliot in a car and follow us.”

Parker was doing the right thing, knowing that she could move the fastest when he was out of commission.  Dammit. He let someone take Sophie. Dammit, he thought.

Hanging onto Hardison, they made it to Hardison’s vehicle, Lucille 5.0, faster than he thought they could. 

“Eliot, I’m gonna need you to hold this and tell me which way to turn.”

“Hardison, not sure. Vision is blurred.”

“Just point me in the general direction. Stay with me, man. I need you. Sophie needs you.”

That brought Eliot back to reality, knowing that one of them was out there possibly taken by a murderer.  As Hardison sped around a corner, Eliot knew he couldn’t let them down again.

 

What the hell? This was supposed to be a start over, not a crime in progress.  They were supposed to lay low, let Eliot heal, and be as good as new in a year or so. Then they could pound the boards and see what bad guys they could take down.  Between not having a place to stay yet and hiding from all the agencies, Parker thought it would work out in the end. It was a good plan on paper. She and Hardison had meticulously planned this down to how long it would take to get to the small airport, to renting a whole plane, to having a state-of-the-art office space for all of them.

Nate and Sophie came back.  She didn’t have to beg or complain or whine. It was just her saying Nate’s name that had him asking what she needed. Eliot wouldn’t call. He would never ask for help. But she would and had a few times, for advice. Somehow, somewhere they had been blown. She still couldn’t figure out the hows or the whys, only that Eliot had been seriously hurt. That bullet had torn through him. It hurt her so much watching him lay in that hospital, in so much pain. Then to watch as he tried to get back on his feet, but mostly failing. It would take time, the doctor had told them.  More physical therapy would help, but Eliot refused, taking over his own regime.  Parker was helping him out as was Hardison, but he was being stubborn as a mule.  He was making progress, Parker knew. Just not as quickly as he would like.

It was good to have her family back together.  Nate and Sophie had gotten more than a year to spend traveling the world, getting to be with each other without a job around the corner. Nate was, well, relaxed. She couldn’t think of a better term.  His hair had started to turn grey finally (she was not going to comment on that little interesting fact) and had grown a beard.  And Sophie looked even more lovely if that was possible.

“Sophie,” Parker shouted as they ran toward the ping on the phone.

Please, please let her still have her phone.  Parker heard sirens off in the distance, so the police had probably gotten to the scene of the crime by now.  She just hoped that no one thought they did it. That would just suck trying to get out of that one.

It must have been really bad if by the look on Eliot’s face was any indication. Just by the bloody handprint on the doorframe of the cottage, Parker could just imagine.  Shaking that image out of her head, she kept up her pace, but didn’t want to lose Nate as she did.

He was a few paces behind her, looking all over for his wife.

“Parker?”

“This way,” she said as she led him down an alley.

“Nate, we don’t have any weapons,” she said as they stepped into the shadowy recesses of a dark alley.

Nate picked up a trash can lid and gave it to her as he found an old pipe lying on the ground. It was better than nothing.

Nate would run into a burning building for his wife. He would probably sacrifice his life to save her. That’s what she’d do for those two idiots in which she spent her life now.  They were hers, just like Sophie was now Nate’s. Now and forever.

A noise off to the right had both slowing their progress.

“Sophie?” Nate called out.

“Hey, wait,” a voice called out to them as they took off running to the sound of a female voice.

That had to be her. As they rounded the corner, they saw a man standing over a woman. The ping was moving off, but Parker didn’t have time to tell Nate that.  Instead of using caution, he swung that old pipe at the head of the person now crouching over a woman on the ground. Before Nate made contact, the person managed to roll out of the way just in time, deflecting the blow with his arm.

“Wait,” the man yelled as he stood finally. “I didn’t do this. You gotta let me explain.”

“Nate, she’s not here. That way,” Parker instructed Nate, pointing toward another part of the alley.

“Where’s my wife?”

“We’re here to help,” the man said.

Damn, he was big. If he wanted, he probably could take down both Nate and Parker with one swipe.  He was what Hardison would call a “pretty boy” though.  Hardison was one too but wouldn’t admit it. 

“Which way, Parker?”

“Through the alley, take a right.”

Nate swung the pipe at the man, warning him to stay back. Turning, they both took off, but the man followed.  Nate almost went left at the next intersection, but Parker directed him to the right. As they got to the next intersection, Parker stopped to get her bearings.

The man had started to follow them but kept his distance. He had pulled out his cellphone, was frantically making calls of his own.

“Dammit, Dean. Answer.”

“Nate, she’s here.  Only she’s not. I don’t see her.”

Nate breathed in deep, trying to calm himself.  He took out his phone and called Sophie’s number. He heard a sound off in the distance. Getting on his knees, he found Sophie’s phone next to some trash at the edge of the alley.

“She’s not here. Oh god, she’s not here. We just, how can we track her? Parker?”

“We just, I don’t know.”

“Did you find her?” the man said from behind them.

Parker didn’t know that Nate could move so fast.  The blow was deflected again, but not by much. The man was trying to not throw a punch Nate’s way, Parker noticed, only defend himself.

“Nate, stop,” she cried out.

Hardison came to a screeching halt in the van, with Eliot tumbling out of his seat even before Hardison had stopped the vehicle.

“Nate, no. Wait,” Eliot yelled to the older man.

“Where is my wife?” he again asked the man crouched directly before him.

If Eliot had not stopped him, Nate’s swing this time would have hit home.

“Nate, it’s not him. Ok. I know this guy. Please tell me, Sam, that you’re not running a job here?”

The man that had been following them was named Sam according to Eliot.

“Yeah. I can’t find Dean. They must have taken them. They knew we were hunting them.”

“Hunting?” Nate asked, pipe still ready to defend the rest of them.

“What were they?”

“Did you just say what?” Hardison asked.

“Yes, what. It’s a what.”

“Eliot?” Nate questioned.

“Fuck. This is just a clusterfuck,” Eliot sighed as he weaved where he stood.

If Hardison hadn’t made it to his side, Eliot would have crumbled.

“Talk,” Nate commanded.

“I gotta go back to my motel. Grab the maps that I had.”

Hardison pointed to his van.

“Nate, give me the pipe,” Parker commanded. “It’s ok. I think he’s one of the good guys.”

If looks could kill, the look that Nate had on his face would be it.  She had only seen that look a few times since she’d known Nate. Once when he wanted to take down Ian Blackpoole.  And the last time when she knew that Dubenich might end up dead by his hands.

“Where is my wife?” Nate asked again, all controlled fury.

“If I’m right, with Dean. He’ll protect her. We have to hurry though. I need a map.”

Hardison waved the man to the van and opened the door, ushering him inside.  Sam’s eyes lit up at the setup.

“What job are you running?” Eliot asked as he leaned up against the side of the van.

“Nest of vamps. We got several of them. Two escaped.”

“Vampires?” Nate said, eyes wide with horror. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Vampires are real?” Hardison screeched.

“Monsters are real,” Parker concluded in total awe.

She had encountered all sorts of interesting creatures over the time she had been in the business. Sometimes she thought her eyes deceived her, seeing something that wasn’t real. Maybe not so much now. 

“The nest was here.”  Sam pointed to an old, abandoned factory on the outskirts of town.  “We tracked the last two here.”  Sam pointed to the woods right near where the cottages were.  “They can’t be far. Plus, they have two more people.”

“They’re in danger?” Nate asked.

“Most definitely.”

“Let me see that map,” Nate asked Hardison, pulling the laptop close.  “Some place quiet, abandoned.  Or almost abandoned. I know where they took them.”

“How?” Parker asked him.

“Sophie left me a clue,” Nate told her as he held up her phone. “All the world’s a stage.”

“She managed to type all that in while having some vamps kidnap her?” Sam questioned.

“It’s Sophie,” Parker told the man.

“Let’s go,” Nate said as he hopped into the van.

“Let’s go kill some monsters.”

Eliot rolled his eyes at Parker as he slowly sat down in the passenger seat.

It didn’t take Hardison long to get back to the church since the town wasn’t all that large. All the lights were off upstairs, but they could all see a sliver of light coming from the basement window.

“What do we do?”

“I’ll go in,” Sam warned.

“There’s two of them,” Hardison complained.  “Sam, you’re big, but aren’t these things like strong and fast?”

“Yeah, the lore is right about that part.”

“How do we kill them?” Nate said as he rummaged through their supplies.

“You don’t. I do.”

“They’re not civilians, Sam. Well, they are when it comes to these things. Sophie’s in there. They can fight.”

If Nate was right, the lore surrounding vampires would work in their favor. He had a few tricks up his sleeves.  Eliot was right. They would fight to free Sophie no matter the cost.

Nate handed the younger man what he had been searching for.

“Holy water?”

“You had holy water in my van?” Hardison asked Nate.

“Among other things. Just something I picked up once.”

“You pick up the strangest things,” Hardison quipped.

“I didn’t pick up that vampires are real though.”

“Good. We can work with that.  Cut their heads off. Only way to kill them.”

“So, no stake through the heart crap?”

“No. We wish. Would make our lives easier. They’re super strong, can smell you coming from a mile away. Here, use this.”

Sam opened a vial that had a pungent smell, making all their eyes water when he did.

“Gonna have to burn the van once this is over.”

“It’ll go away. Holy water will only stun them.  This is what will incapacitate them.”

He held up another vial, much larger.

“Is that blood?” Hardison asked, as he swallowed visibly.

“Dead man’s blood.”

“Gotta a crossbow?” Sam asked the group.

“What? Crossbow?” Hardison questioned.

“Yeah.  Compartment underneath,” Nate commented as he started to climb from the van.

Parker popped the compartment open, digging out the crossbow and a few really wicked knives. Nate grabbed one of the knives, handing one of the others to Parker.

“Give Parker the crossbow,” Eliot urged.

“She know how to shoot this thing?” Sam wanted to know.

“Oh yeah.”

 

Sophie woke up screaming. Except she couldn’t because a dirty rag was tied around the back of her head and stuffed in her mouth.  It only came out as a strangled groan instead.  As she opened her eyes, she realized that she was lucky this was where they had taken her. She hoped that the clue she left Nate would make sense. Surely the man could be dense at times, but now was not the time.

She really, really wished that Nate and the others hadn’t been lured away from Eliot.  That creature that took down Eliot was fast and vicious.  She was lucky it hadn’t torn out her throat, yet.

Her guess was a vampire. There would be no way the others would know what they would encounter once they found her. She just hoped that somehow Eliot would know and do something about it.  The others would have no clue whatsoever.

Sophie had first encountered a vampire while she was making her way through Europe, conning men out of their hard-earned cash.  What she found out later was the fact there were very few left. The one she had run across had been American. Most of the others on the European continent had been eliminated.  Oh, the stories she could tell the others, of her upbringing. Only she couldn’t. She had left that life behind when she set out on her own. And she wasn’t going back to it, ever.

The lavish party that she was attending only had the best in attendees, many of who she wanted to worm her way into their lives so that she could con them out of whatever lovely pieces they had in their collections.  Her blood red long dress matched her painted lips and nails, understated earrings dangling. She never went in to these things too flashy, but just enough to catch the attention of someone moneyed enough. Only she attracted the attention of something she didn’t want. He had cornered her in a back room with nowhere for her to run.

She had worked her charm with that vampire, telling him that he did not want her blood and to move along as fast as he could.  He had complied with her request, only to be felled quickly and quietly.

“You shouldn’t have come,” she had told the person in front of her. “I had it in hand.”

“You don’t hunt. Remember. Walked away from it all.”

Sophie sighed as she turned to see what her past had looked like.

“I am not, nor will I ever be a member of your so-called little club.”

“Suit yourself.”

“I will.”

“I’ve missed you.”

“I’m calling bullshit on that one.”

“Sophie? Is that what you’re calling yourself now?”

“Ketch?  You can bite me.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Americans I see.”

“Stay out of my way, Ketch.”

“As I have always done. You were ruthless back then to say the least. Probably still are.”

“I don’t do those things anymore.”

“You could. They would take you back if you just say the word. I would vouch for you.”

“And stab me in the back the first opportunity you had.”

Sophie had watched to make sure he wouldn’t do exactly that.  Ketch was a wretched human being, but he was nice to look at on occasion.

“You need to watch your step. I’m not in the habit of saving civilians.”

Why had she ever agreed to become part of that organization escaped her? Was it loyalty to her family? The fact that she had practically been born into it?  And it was expected of her?  People like Ketch did not like the fact that it was her destiny. They had to work their way up the ladder, as the saying went. She just wished that ladder wasn’t riddled with bodies. She had cut ties very early on, in her early twenties, after she realized that the lives they led were horrible at best and immoral at worst.  She wouldn’t kill her fellow human beings just for a spot on the team.

“I’ll do that.”

“As cold as ice as always. What do you say we go get a drink? Reminisce about old times?”

There never were old times with them.  It was always either fighting or pinning him to the bed to take what she wanted. That wasn’t the way to have a real relationship, regardless of whether he thought it was foreplay to cut a creature’s head off.

“Rather not.”

“No, you’d rather go play heiress or duchess or countess or whatever flavor of the week it is.”

“Pays the bills.”

As he approached her, Sophie was on full alert now, watching for any signs of him pulling a fast one. Only he took her chin in his hand and tilted it up just slightly.

“Oh, the team we could have made.”

“Not in this lifetime.”

“So, it seems. Take care.”

He disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.  Sophie would have to be a bit more careful with whom she associated. This one was too close for comfort.

Just as this time was too close for comfort and then some.  As she swung from the ceiling, she contemplated how she was going to get out of this one. Being trussed up like a piece of meat was definitely not an advantage. Neither was the fact that she wasn’t alone in that position.

Another man, quite large and menacing, hung a mere foot from her.  Amateurs, Sophie wanted to call out. Most vamps would never let two humans get that close to each other. Now she just had to wake up the fool hanging next to her. Blood dripped from his forehead.

“Hello. Wake up so we can find a way out of here. Dammit, wake up.”

Her harsh voice had the man stirring, eyes finally opening. What a lovely shade of green looked back at her, a bit on the dizzy side though. She hoped he didn’t have a concussion.

“Listen to me if you want to get out of here.”

“What?”

“If you can move yourself over to me just slightly, I might be able to pick the lock. Come on, now. Chop, chop.”

“What the hell?”

Oh my, what a good-looking man. Enough of that, she thought. She had her own good-looking man to worry over. This one looked to be a mess if by what she saw by the look in his eyes.  He’d seen a lot.  Nate was trouble enough. 

The man actually did as he was asked though. Pulling herself up, she managed to work out a pin from her hair.  Oh, she’d feel that in the morning. If she made it to morning.  As she worked her magic, it didn’t take her long to complete her task. Only as she did, he went crashing to the ground, hard.

“Shake it off. Go get help.”

“I gotta get you out of here. Vamps.”

Oh, so the man knew about vampires. Well, bully on him. Except they had returned right when he stood up, hungry and a bit ticked that the man had gotten free.

“Shit,” the man groaned. “Two against one. Come on, you son of a bitches.”

The man swayed a bit but put up his fists to fight. Did he know that they were much stronger and faster than he was?  Sophie got to work on her own lock, hoping that he would at least afford her a bit of time before the two would turn on her. 

The man went flying across the room, crashing into the wall hard. Oh well, he tried, she thought.  Another twist and she was free. Now what to do about the man who thought he could fight monsters?  Only she didn’t have to make that decision because the cavalry had arrived in the form of Nate and the rest of the crew. 

Parker had a crossbow? Who in their right mind had given her a crossbow? Except Parker managed to take one down with a shot to the heart. Good for her. She wasn’t so lucky with the next one, which was the one who had thrown the other man up against that hard wall.

It all happened so fast, the fight turning their way when the other vamp was taken down, arrow sticking out of its leg.  Oh my, Parker was bloody good with that weapon.  She was now glad that Eliot didn’t like weapons.  Parker might not know when to stop.

Everyone else was bloody and tired, but all in one piece thankfully.  She so wished that the other man who had been with her team had waited to kill the vamps, but he didn’t.  Dammit, how would she get the blood stains off the floor now?

“Oh god, Sophie,” Nate sighed as he gathered her in his arms. He hugged her tight against him as a large knife dangled from one of his hands.

Parker stood in the middle of it, gleefully looking like she’d conquered the world in one night.  Hardison looked as if he was going to throw up.

“Do not throw up on my floor,” Sophie chided the younger man.

“There’s blood, everywhere. And you’re complaining about my stomach?”

Eliot stood to the side, the cane’s tip now a sword of some sort. Leave it to Eliot to carry a weapon just in case.

“You alright, darlin’?” he asked her.

“Perfectly fine. Just a bit shaky.”

She had to act like she was scared out of her wits, but right then all she wanted to do was hug her husband to her tight.

“You alright, Dean?”

“Yeah, thanks to her. Gotta learn how to pick locks like that.”

“Any time.”

Nate narrowed his eyes at her now, wondering what that was about.

“What? You guys don’t carry lock picks everywhere you go?” Parker questioned.

As Sophie took in the carnage, looked at the burn marks from the holy water, she wondered if she should tell Nate that holy water doesn’t do much. It would blow her cover though. He didn’t know about her checkered past. Well, that part of her checkered past.

“She had a hairpin. That’s it. A hairpin,” Dean said in awe.

“Needs must.”

“So how do we clean this up?” Nate asked as he looked down at the severed head.

Hardison made choking sounds, like he was gagging.

“I’m gonna go get some air or somethin’. This ain’t right. Monsters. In my place of business. It just ain’t right.”

As Sam and Dean gathered all the bodies up to be disposed, Eliot came over to hug her.

“It’s ok. I’m alright, Eliot. There’s no way you could have done a thing.”

“I just. I am so sorry.”

Guilt would ride Eliot for a while, but she would make him get over it so that he could heal. His limp was even more pronounced. 

“Thanks to these two guys.  Sam, Dean Winchester.  My family,” Eliot started to introduce them.

“Let’s get these things cleaned up.”

“Oh god, we should go back to the cottages,” Parker realized. “That poor girl.”

An ambulance had been sent to that alley that Sam had encountered the other woman who had been attacked.

They all stood to the back of the crowd as the authorities took out the body of the girl who had been murdered.  Hardison would try and plant some evidence so that the police could solve her murder.  Only Dean and Sam told him it might not be of any use if he did. They would never believe what was out there. Hardison still couldn’t believe it himself.

 

“Vampires are real,” Nate murmured to her as they sat together in a new room at one of the other bed and breakfast places on the other side of town.

“Apparently. Are you alright?”

“Just glad you’re ok.”

He hugged her to him tighter, not wanting to let her go.

“You knew what they were, didn’t you?”

Sophie stopped short, not wanting to look him in the eye.

“What makes you think?”

“Because I know you. I know your tells, your gestures. I know you better than I know myself.  You didn’t seem phased by them at all, dear. How long have you known?”

Should she just admit to him all her knowledge or just this one tiny thing?

“My whole life.”  That was the most honest thing she had ever told him, other than that she loved him more than life itself.

“Oh boy.”

 

“We just, seriously.  Did we just kill vamps?”

“No, you didn’t kill anything. Sam and Dean did. Along with your badass girlfriend.”

All three of them were cuddled up on a king-sized bed in a warm room with all the doors locked and the shades pulled down to block out the light of the day.  Eliot’s leg hurt something fierce, but it felt good to just be with the both of them.

“Why didn’t you tell us there were monsters?” Parker quietly asked.

“Because. Because it didn’t matter. We had our own monsters to deal with.  People like Sam and Dean hunt those kinds of things to keep the rest of us safe. We hunt the human kind, the ones that hurt people by taking their livelihoods from them. We do our job so that Sam and Dean can do theirs.”

“But you’ve done that job? Right?”

“Long time ago.”

“Listen, I never want to be around that shit, ever again. Can we just sleep?  And snuggle because I’m gonna have nightmares for sure.”

Eliot thought about all the nightmares he had throughout his life. With these two snuggled up against him, he knew he could fight off the beasts to keep them safe.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I threw in the holy water. I have no idea if it affects vamps in the Supernatural universe. I checked the wiki and couldn't find anything. Oh well. Just go with it.


End file.
